Controlled crying: baby tricking me!

[babayagga]

BACKGROUND INFO: My DD is 6.5 months old. She still wakes up to feed several times in the night, which I don’t mind. We started CC two weeks ago. Goal was to get her to go to sleep in her own cot, waking up for feeds as needed. First night was hell, then we saw a gradual (though variable) improvement.

PROBLEM: But now I think she has developed a trick that essentially allows her to keep feeding to sleep! She has learnt that, if she stops feeding, she will be taken off the breast and put into her cot/pram. Therefore, now she sleeps and feeds at the same time! She latches on tight and, whenever I try to disengage her, starts swallowing maniacally. I feel bad in case she really is still hungry, so let her stay on. Result: by the time she finally goes in the cot, 90% of the work of falling asleep has been done for her by my breast!

Phasing out night feedings is not an option- she still needs them. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

She's not tricking you, it's just what she's doing at the moment. My 9 month old who is still fed to sleep and sleeps on me/co sleeps does the same sometimes, usually lasts a week or so and then stops again. At the moment he is doing it a lot which is probably because it's so hot and he's wanting a lot to drink. It will pass but maybe wait until it's cooler to worry about it.

I think cc is very hard to do when feeding to sleep. Wait a few more months and then you know she doesn’t need to feed in the night

Have you tried using a dummy? To replace you if she needs to suck something!

I don’t understand. Shes 6 months old, shes not capable of tricking. Why does it matter if she’s sleep feeding through the night? Unless you are trying to quit night feeds altogether isn’t this better than her being put back in her cot wide awake? If she’s going straight back down after a feed I can’t really see the problem.

I gave mine dummies from the start, and bottle fed them. They slept through the night happily from 8 weeks. I don’t think I could have coped with either the sleep deprivation or the emotional upset ( to both them and me!) of controlled crying.
They’re in their late 20’s now, and don’t seem any the worse for it!

Let her feed to sleep. She's not capable of tricking you, she's a baby. She won't do it forever.

You need to do the feed earlier in her routine if you're determined to break the feed to sleep association. Perhaps feed then nappy change.

We introduced a little comforter blanket around this age that she only has for sleeps, which she grabs and helps her.

She is not capable of tricking you

Feeding to sleep is biologically normal and your milk actually produces hormones that promote it.

I used to feed sitting on the landing outside her bedroom then when she was drowsy I'd carry her into her room and place her down. Thay way she associated that spot with feeding before bed but wasn't feeding herself to sleep. I think you need to work on one goal at a time, are you trying to get her to go to sleep during the night by herself or are you trying to cut out the night feedings?

Why do you not want her to feed to sleep? It's perfectly normal.

Have introduced bedtime story in between breast and cot. Thought it would be met with wailing and protestations, but it was actually well received, and obviously solved the feed-to-sleep problem. Another thing that helps is that I talk and sing to her softly, but not in a whisper, while feeding her: keeps her awake before she’s put down. Thanks for the suggestion!

Feeding to sleep isn’t a ‘problem’ it is totally normal. 6 month old babies can’t teick you, she is trying to do what she is programmed to do.